Several governing board officials, impressed by Team USA’s recent performance during the group stage at the World Cup, suggest that the unit should capitalize on the wave of soccer-fever sweeping the nation as a means to promote economic development in … Read more

[Update:  The ban on internet sweepstakes became law when Gov. Perdue signed H.B. 80 on July 20. The ban was upheld by the N.C. Supreme Court in late 2012.  See this blog post for more details. ] The General Assembly moved … Read more

A lot of information about public employees is confidential. It’s well known, however, that what public employees get paid is public. So does that mean that their time sheets are public records? This post addresses the question of whether time … Read more

UPDATE September 2013:  The 2013 law that revises the zoning board of adjustment statutes (S.L. 2013 – 126) affects appeals of certificate of appropriateness decisions of historic preservation commissions. Section 1 of the act adds G.S. 160A-388(b1)(9) to provide that … Read more

UPDATE August 2013: In 2012 the General Assembly imposed additional accountability requirements on nonprofit corporations that receive over $5000 of public funds within a fiscal year from grants, loans, or in-kind contributions. Click here to learn more about the requirements. … Read more

Have you ever had questions about which property disposal method local governments can use to sell a piece of government-owned land?  Or have you wondered what steps are required to sell property by upset bid?  Or have you wondered how … Read more

Paul Proteus, the town manager of Maycomb, leaned back in his chair with a deep sigh. It was a quiet Friday afternoon. All of the week’s crises had passed. The parks staff and chamber of commerce folks just reported that … Read more

Despite rumors to the contrary, tax collectors are human. Sometimes they make mistakes. Can those mistakes ever bind the taxing unit and eliminate a tax obligation?

Responding to requests for public information is an important and time-consuming aspect of the jobs of many local government officials and employees. While some requests are straight-forward, others require analysis and interpretation of the public records law, including its many … Read more

Suppose that a town council holds a public hearing on a proposal to rezone one of the last vacant tracts of land in the northwest area of town from a single-family residential district to a multi-family residential district. Suppose also … Read more